An autonomous vehicle is a vehicle that is capable of sensing its environment and navigating with little or no user input. An autonomous vehicle senses its environment using sensing devices such as radar, lidar, image sensors, and the like. The autonomous vehicle system further uses information from global positioning systems (GPS) technology, navigation systems, vehicle-to-vehicle communication, vehicle-to-infrastructure technology, and/or drive-by-wire systems to navigate the vehicle.
The social behavior aspect of driving is a key attribute of everyday driving maneuvers. For example, people generally detect the subtle cues of other drivers' intentions before the intention is fully realized. The autonomous control of the vehicle can be improved by incorporating an evaluation of this social behavior aspect.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide systems and methods that incorporate social behavior into autonomous driving. It is further desirable to provide methods and systems for managing merging maneuvers in an autonomous vehicle based on social aspects of driving. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.